Research

Hormonal

High perceived stress is directly and positively associated with severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m²) in low-income women, independent of eating behaviors and diet quality.

For low-income women with severe obesity, stress management is likely as critical as diet. Since stress drives obesity through biological pathways (like cortisol) independent of food intake, interventions should prioritize stress coping strategies alongside nutrition education to be effective.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Perceived stress was directly and positively associated with severe obesity (β = 0.26, p = 0.007)... Independent of eating behaviors and diet quality, stress was positively associated with severe obesity.
Andrea S. Richardson et al. · Nutrition Journal · 2015

Why this rating

Cross-sectional design prevents causal inference; however, the sample is specific and controls for key confounders.

Source

Perceived stress, unhealthy eating behaviors, and severe obesity in low-income women

Andrea S. Richardson et al. · Nutrition Journal · 2015

DOI 10.1186/s12937-015-0110-4

cross_sectional · n=101Cited 169×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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